The biological sample may suitably be selected from histological material, including formalin fixed and paraffin embedded material, cytological material, fine needle aspirates, cell smears, exfoliative cytological specimens, touch preparations, bone marrow specimens, sputum samples, expectorates, oral swabs, laryngeal swabs, vaginal swabs, bronchial aspirates, bronchial lavage, gastric lavage, and body fluids. Such may be subjected to various treatments.
Sample processing in immunohistochemical (IHC) applications and in other chemical and biological analyses may require one or a number of various processing sequences or protocols as part of an analysis of one or more samples. The sample processing sequences or protocols may be defined by the individual or organization requesting an analysis, such as a pathologist or histologist of a hospital, and may be further defined by the dictates of a particular analysis to be performed.
In preparation for sample analysis, a biological sample may be acquired by known sample acquisition techniques and may comprise, for example in IHC applications, tissues generally or even in some applications one or a plurality of isolated cells, such as in microarray samples, and may be presented on a sample carrier such as a microscope slide. Furthermore, the sample may be presented on the carrier variously and potentially in some form of preservation. As one example, a human biopsi sample may be fixed and embedded in a suitable media like paraffin or epon, before being mounted onto a carrier. The sample may be treated according to the protocol, which may include the following non limiting procedural steps: deparaffination, antigen retrieval, denaturing, washing, incubation with various immunological reagents, molecular probes or dyes, strigency wash or counterstaining.
Histological cytological, ISH, IHC special stains and other applications, for example, may require processing sequences or protocols that comprise many and laborious steps such as deparaffinization, target retrieval, and staining. Such steps are not special for ISH procedures, but goes for IHC, cytological, specials or ISH stainings. Previously, in some applications, these steps may have been performed manually, potentially creating a time-intensive protocol and necessitating personnel to be actively involved in the sample processing. Attempts have been made to automate sample processing to address the need for expedient sample processing and a less manually burdensome operation. However, such previous efforts may have not fully addressed the needs for an automated sample processing system. Previous efforts to automate sample processing may be deficient in several aspects that prevent more robust automated sample processing, such as: the lack of sufficient computer control and monitoring of sample processing; the lack of information sharing for processing protocol and processing status, especially for individual samples; the lack of diagnostic capabilities; and the lack of real-time or adaptive capabilities for multiple sample batch processing.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,091 an automated sample processing for samples presented on carriers such as slides is known. In this apparatus, an array of slides is stained by a robotic device delivering reagents onto the slides. The staining apparatus is provided with a lid cover, which provides a protective cover of the biological samples on the carriers in the apparatus during the staining processes as well as containing stains of the some times hazardous reagent materials within the apparatus and preventing operators from being exposed to such stains.
Slides can be any suitable solid or semi solid support for the biological sample. In particular, the support may be a microscope slide, a membrane, a filter, a polymer slide, a chamber slide, a dish, or a petridish
Some staining processes involve the use of hazardous materials, such as toxic materials. These materials may be collected in special containers in order to ensure safe handling of the waste material. However, this does not sufficiently protect the laboratory environment in which the apparatus is placed from being contaminated with toxic material. Moreover, in some staining processes or other treatments in the apparatus heat is applied. This increases the risk of vaporising reagents which then may escape to the outside of the apparatus.
In the apparatuses known in the art, a protective hood or similar plastic cover is put over the staining apparatus in order to shield off the biological samples during the staining. In this known technique, one risk is the drying out of slides and lack of control of airspeed and temperature.